Verstappen is victorious at Las Vegas

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen brushed off the time penalty and car damage to score big at Sin City – winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix from Charles Leclerc, who passed Sergio Perez on the final lap.

Verstappen overcame a five-second time penalty for clashing with Leclerc on the first lap and had to drive around with front wing damage picked up in another incident with Mercedes driver George Russell.

Leclerc showed Ferrari’s race pace potential was true, but was ultimately undone by the second of two safety cars losing a tyre advantage he had over Verstappen and with the caution period it helped Perez recover from picking up front wing damage in a Turn 1 chaos.

At the start, polesitter Leclerc found Verstappen quickly alongside him but when they arrived at the Turn 1 hairpin the Red Bull ran the Ferrari to the edge of the track and off, each soon arguing that they had their front axles ahead at the apex per the racing rules of engagement since early 2022.

In the pack behind, Fernando Alonso spun solo on the low-grip surface and got hit by Valtteri Bottas, who in turn was struck by Perez, with Carlos Sainz understeering into Lewis Hamilton.

The ensuing debris left behind meant the virtual safety car was activated at the end of lap one of 50, with Verstappen already over a second clear anyway.

His gap was up to 1.6 seconds when the race went back to green flag racing conditions at the start of lap three, which did not last long as Lando Norris – having made good gains in the early chaos from his lowly grid spot – crashed hard at Turn 12.

He had actually lost the rear of his McLaren following teammate Oscar Piastri in the previous corner and when things snapped suddenly sideways Norris could not catch it back up again on the slippery surface and he slammed rearwards into the Turn 11 exit wall and then shot down the track to the barriers well behind Turn 12 – nearly collecting Piastri as he did so.

The safety car was called out as Norris climbed out of his broken car, with the caution period lasting until the start of lap seven.

Verstappen was already out of DRS threat by this point as he had dropped Leclerc just before Turn 14 at the end of the long Strip straight, then braked for the right-hander, which Leclerc called “dangerous”.

At the start of lap nine when Verstappen’s lead had reached 2.0 seconds with his pace in the early laps, the race stewards determined he was at fault for the Turn 1 incident with Leclerc and handed him a five-second penalty.

Red Bull told the world champion to concentrate on extending his gap to above the penalty duration before his first pitstop, to which he replied his team could, “give them [the stewards] my regards”.

But Leclerc pressed on reducing the gap to the leader and reversing any gains Verstappen made.

Approaching lap 16, Verstappen’s pace dropped as his tyres degraded, which meant Leclerc got DRS on the following tour and used it to pass Verstappen into Turn 14 – just after Red Bull had told its charge he would be pitting.

Verstappen came in and served his penalty before switching the mediums he and Leclerc had started on for hards – the whole service lasting 7.7 seconds and with Verstappen rejoining back in the pack and even behind Russell, who had stopped a few laps earlier.

Ferrari initially left Leclerc out to build a gap while Verstappen lost more time fighting slower rivals and getting through the hard tyre’s tricky warm-up phase before Leclerc finally pitted at the end of lap 21.

He rejoined in third position – behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Perez, who had both gained stopping after the lap one chaos and early safety car.

Leclerc took a few laps to make sure he did not overstress his new hards – fitted at a pitstop that ran at least a second long due to a slow right front change – then he charged down and passed Stroll into Turn 14 on lap 25.

A little further behind, Verstappen and Russell, who had both been making progress in the pack back towards their previous positions, clashed when Verstappen dived to the inside of Turn 13 and Russell turned in.

The contact smashed Verstappen’s right front endplate and Russell’s left-hand side, with the debris left on the track requiring another safety car to clear up.

Red Bull pitted to net leader Perez and Verstappen for more hards, while Leclerc was left out again and his previous tyre off-set was gone at that moment.

When the race restarted on lap 29 – just before which Russell was handed a five-second penalty for the Verstappen contact – Leclerc dropped Perez nicely but was soon under pressure.

As Verstappen worked his way by Pierre Gasly and another second safety car non-stopper Piastri, Perez closed in and passed Leclerc for the lead into Turn 14 on lap 32 after initially unable to get by the Ferrari with DRS the first time.

But Leclerc was able to stay with Perez even as Verstappen roared up behind him – the Ferrari driver attacking at Turn 14 and surprising Perez to retake the lead on lap 35 at Turn 14.

Verstappen then demoted his teammate at the same place on the following lap, then immediately on lap 37 he retook the lead with a DRS blast down the Strip and then sealed the position at Turn 14’s apex after Leclerc had come off the brakes and tried to make a fight of it.

Leclerc again initially stayed with Verstappen, with Red Bull urging the leader to find a way to break the tow to his pursuer, with Perez unable to pass Leclerc again despite his tyre advantage thanks to the Ferrari’s smaller, lower-downforce rear wing.

Verstappen’s superior pace in the low-one minute, 36 seconds did get him clear of immediate threat from Leclerc as the race entered its final laps, before on lap 43 Leclerc outbraked himself at Turn 13 and went very deep.

Perez shot through and from there the top three ran Verstappen shot clear, with Leclerc re-catching Perez and pursuing the Red Bull over the final laps.

On the last lap, with Verstappen having dropped back from a nearly five-second advantage to just over two to try and help Perez with a long-distance slipstream at Red Bull’s request, Leclerc made a surprise dive at Turn 14.

He got alongside Perez late and stole second at the apex, then defended from Perez coming back at the final corner, ending up 2.0 seconds behind Verstappen.

Russell charged back to fourth on the road with a series of late passes – including a move into Turn 14 on Esteban Ocon on the last lap – but his penalty dropped him to eighth in the final results.

Ocon, who had battled by teammate Gasly a few laps after the second safety car in a tough but fair intra-Alpine scrap, therefore got fourth back, with Stroll fading only to fifth after his earlier gains – the Aston Martin driver like Perez also making use of a stop under the second safety car.

Sainz recovered from his Turn 1 contact, damage and first stop under the VSC to finish sixth, with Hamilton ending seventh having had a bruising race that included contact with Piastri in the midfield action just before the first round of pitstops.

Alonso also battled back to finish ninth on an effective one-stopper after his lap-one incident and pitstop later on that tour, while Piastri came home in the final points-paying position.

He dropped back from his late high position behind the leaders as he was on a two-stopper and did not gain from stopping under either safety car, while Gasly dropped back himself as he appeared to not be able to make the one-stopper work as well as Ocon.

Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg were late non-finishers as they both pulled off in the Turn 14 runoff with technical problems in the closing laps.

So after all the pre-race hype leading up to this event, the actual racing at Las Vegas was quite good. The DRS on the Strip provided the most action and entertainment. So good job Sin City.

Congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the race despite penalty and damage to his car. He was so fast and fight through to take another victory. As for Charles Leclerc, was a shame not to finish first but his final lap overtake was spectacular. Sergio Perez might have lost out on P2 in the end but he finished second in the drivers’ championship so that is a solid result.

Las Vegas Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:29:08.289
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +2.070s
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull +2.241s
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine +18.665s
5 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +20.067s
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +20.834s
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +21.755s
8 George Russell Mercedes +23.091s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +25.964s
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren +29.496s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +34.270s
12 Alexander Albon Williams +43.398s
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas +44.825s
14 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +48.525s
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +50.1620
16 Logan Sargeant Williams +50.882s
17 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +85.350s
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri DNF
19 Nico Hulkenberg Haas DNF
Lando Norris McLaren DNF

4 thoughts to “Verstappen is victorious at Las Vegas”

  1. Max Verstappen emerged on top at the end of an action-packed Las Vegas Grand Prix, beating Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez to the chequered flag in a race punctuated by several incidents and Safety Car periods.

    Verstappen took the lead from Leclerc at the start of the race but was promptly handed a five-second time penalty for forcing his rival off the track and then got overtaken by the pole-sitter before serving it at the first round of pit stops.

    Leclerc went longer into the race before changing tyres in an opening stint dominated by graining concerns, only for a Safety Car shortly afterwards to allow Verstappen and several other drivers to pit again under caution.

    At the decisive restart, Leclerc initially controlled proceedings from Perez, who had benefitted from an early stop after an incident on the first lap, though ageing tyres meant he came under severe pressure.

    Verstappen lit up the timesheets in the final laps to clear both his team mate and the leading Ferrari for a landmark win in the City of Lights, while Perez had followed him through to form a one-two, only to be re-passed by a determined Leclerc on the final lap.

    https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-beats-leclerc-and-perez-to-victory-in-action-packed-las-vegas.czJOEppYohzdjCwIugjwN.html

  2. Formula 1 “needed” an entertaining 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix following a turbulent start to the event, says Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who wants more races to deliver similar on-track excitement.

    Polesitter Leclerc finished second to Max Verstappen, despite the three-time champion earning a five-second penalty for running his front-row rival off track through Turn 1 to nick the early lead.

    A second safety car interruption that afforded Sergio Perez a cheaper pitstop then put Red Bull on course for a 1-2 result only for Leclerc to dive back past on the final lap with the aid of DRS.

    For the on-track excitement, Leclerc waxed lyrical about the Vegas event saying that other races needed to produce similar battles.

    He said: “I’m sorry about the second place. But on the other hand, I’m sure that everybody had an amazing time looking at the race. I really, really enjoyed it.

    “We shall have more races like that where the racing is like that because it was really enjoyable.”

    https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/leclerc-f1-needed-entertaining-vegas-race-after-chaotic-weekend-start/10548853/

  3. Max Verstappen feels the FIA stewards “probably made the right call” by penalising him for shoving Charles Leclerc off the track at the start of Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

    Verstappen started alongside polesitter Leclerc on the front row and ducked down the inside of the left-hand Turn 1 to grab the lead.

    But as grip was extremely limited on the brand-new surface, as evidenced by Fernando Alonso spinning off behind them and other drivers also making contact, Verstappen went deep into the run-off area, taking Leclerc with him.

    Verstappen kept his lead while the stewards investigated the incident, and the Red Bull driver was soon handed a five-second penalty for pushing another driver off the track.

    “We both braked quite late to defend the position but I was a bit on the inside. As soon as you go offline here, it’s super low grip. And that’s what happened. I braked and there was no grip.

    “I didn’t mean to push Charles off the track, but I couldn’t slow it down and just kept sliding on four wheels wide.

    “At the time, I was also full of adrenaline and I was unhappy with the decision. But looking back at it, that was probably the right call.”

    https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-penalty-for-pushing-off-leclerc-in-f1-las-vegas-gp-probably-right-call/10549002/

  4. McLaren’s Andrea Stella says the bump that caused Lando Norris to suffer a heavy crash in Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix should be smoothened out for next year.

    On lap 3 of the race, Norris lost control of his McLaren through the flat-out left-hander of Turn 11 on a bump in the middle of the road.

    The Briton spun and went backwards into the outside wall, coming to a stop in the run-off area for Turn 12.

    After passing through the medical centre, Norris was sent to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks but was soon cleared and released.

    When asked what caused the crash, his team principal Stella said: “There’s a bump in that place. And you can see all cars sparkle when they go through this bump.

    “I think the combination of the bump and the cold tyres might have surprised him.

    “I think that bump, if we carry on racing at nighttime, should be fixed, because the tyres will always be cold, low grip and it becomes a very tricky corner.”

    https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-bump-that-caused-norris-las-vegas-f1-crash-should-be-taken-out/10548939/

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